30 Days of Thanksgiving – Day 13

I’m extra thankful today for such a sweet, loving, and helpful husband. We got back from our weekend away yesterday and really didn’t do much at all last night. When we left for church this morning, we still had not unpacked, had a full dishwasher and a full sink of dishes, and a dusty house with dirty bathrooms! So today, it was frantic cleaning and laundry time before lessons on Monday. Brian was, as usual, more than willing to pitch in to help. I couldn’t have done it without him. I’m also thankful for a clean house. I could have (and probably should have since I’m starting to get a cold) rested this afternoon and done nothing, but instead, I cleaned house. While the rest would have been nice, it’s almost even better to sit and relax (although a little later) in a nice, clean house! 

30 Days of Thanksgiving – Day 12

I’m thankful that my precious little guy is content and ultra flexible. I think back on the major events of the past couple of months….sister’s wedding, other sister’s art show, first birthday party, lots of family visitors. He is so flexible and easy going. At the art show, he was the life of the party and stayed up way past his bedtime, but never was fussy or upset. Same with the wedding. He even napped in his pack ‘n play in a back hallway. I’m grateful that he’s always happy to just go with the flow! 

30 Days of Thanksgiving – Day 11

We just finished my youngest sister’s senior art show opening. That caused me to think about how thankful I am for my family. I love how we all work together so well…especially when it comes to pulling off big events (not gonna lie, we’re pretty good at it!!!). Everyone is so creative, thoughtful, and always strives to make things the best they can be. I love my family and love getting together with them. I am so thankful for family, and definitely couldn’t imagine having a better one!!

30 Days of Thanksgiving – Day 10

I’ve made it to day 10! I’m actually sort of impressed with myself that I have stuck with this. Guess I don’t want to disappoint the 4 or 5 people that read this who might be hanging on to the edges of their seats wondering what I am going to be thankful for the next day!! 🙂 I really should be doing something much more productive now, considering we are leaving town in, oh, about 10 hours, and that everything has to be ready to go so we can just get in the car as soon as I finish teaching at 9. And, this is the little guy’s nap time, so it should be my most productive time of the day. I am working on laundry right now….that’s something, right?

Well…I’ve been thinking a lot how grateful I am for all we have…how rich we are. And, I’m not saying this to boast about my own possessions. In my mind, we are far, far, far from being “rich.” But, we don’t live in poverty. I am fascinated by the Compassion International movement and how much they do for impoverished children around the world. I very much want our family to sponsor a child (and eventually, several children!) through Compassion. I keep waiting, though, thinking that I really want a child the same age as Noah, and children can’t enter the program until they are 3 years old. Lame excuse, I know. We should just go for it…and maybe we will. I bring all of this up now because there are a group of bloggers, several of whom I read their posts on a regular basis, who are traveling to Ecuador with musician and Compassion representative Shaun Groves. They go because their blogs are well-read, and they want to provide all of us with a closer look at exactly what Compassion does and who Compassion serves. They meet up with Compassion leaders and have an opportunity to meet and spend time with children in the Compassion program. It just breaks my heart to read what they write, to see the conditions these children and their families live in. I look around at my own house and all we have and just think, why me? Why were we chosen to have all this stuff? Why does my son have a nicely painted bedroom with matching bedding and matching furniture? Why is his room and closet full of toys when there are children who sleep in the kitchen on a board without a mattress? Why is this their house? Yet, through these posts, I’ve read about how content these families are. What a testimony of hope! This really strikes me as we approach the holidays where the focus tends to be so much on how much or what kind of gifts we get. Oh how spoiled we are…. I pray that we won’t be content with material goods, that we wouldn’t find our happiness in how much we have, that we wouldn’t always seek to have more “temporary” things. What do we really consider our treasures? 

While I don’t really want to be thankful for all the “stuff” in my life, I am really thankful we don’t live in poverty. We don’t have to worry about our next meal or if we will survive a cold winter. We are so blessed. 

If you have some extra time, I encourage you to check out the Compassion Bloggers on their trip to Ecuador and read more about the Compassion program. Maybe we all (me and the 4 or 5 of you I mentioned above who might be reading!) can take a step of faith together and and give a gift to someone who really needs it by each sponsoring a child this holiday season.  

30 Days of Thanksgiving – Day 9

Ok…so this may by sort of a “superficial” thing to be thankful for…but, I’m thankful for the internet. It’s such a helpful thing! I mean, right now we are looking online for a hotel to make a last minute reservation. I get to share my thoughts and feelings about things. I stay connected with friends and family. I use it as a business tool for communication and research. It’s so much a part of my life that it’s hard to do without it. So, it may be a dorky thing to be thankful for, but today, I really appreciate having the internet!

30 Days of Thanksgiving – Day 8

Getting back on track and all caught up…

Today I’m thankful especially for grace. I very much had a frantic morning and ended up not going to a meeting I was supposed to attend. I felt like I was failing at all I was supposed to do. It’s tough to run a household, take care of a one year old, manage my own business, and actually work at/for that business teaching lessons. It’s especially tough considering I typically have an hour and a half in the mornings and then maybe 30 minutes in the afternoons during nap time to get everything accomplished I have to have done. Now, I’m not saying I never get anything accomplished when the little man is awake and around, but I never know when he will have the type of day where he will happily play independently or where he needs me to hold him every minute. So, it’s just best to get it all done during nap time. Today, it seems like I hardly completed anything. It was, as one of my students would say, a “major failure.” After awhile, I kind of got over my sense of failure and thought about how nice it was that really, I am the only one who expects me to be perfect. I’m thankful for the grace and mercy of my Heavenly Father who loves me the way I am and for who I am. I am thankful that my husband is easy going and doesn’t complain about eating leftovers or sandwiches (again!) if I don’t get something made for lunch. He understands there’s a lot going on in the house during the day, and some days, not everything happens that is supposed to! My sweet little man just wants me there. He doesn’t care how I look or what I have been able to accomplish or even if I’ve showered or not! He just wants me near by to talk to and play with him. I’m thankful we are not called to be perfect and are accepted just as we are. 

30 Days of Thanksgiving – Day 7

I missed yesterday too. That wasn’t on purpose. That’s because it was a busy day. I typically write posts after I put Noah in bed, but as soon as I put him in bed last night at 8:00 I got to work on making sugar cookies for my sister’s art show this weekend. I worked on that until I put my tired self to bed at 10:15. I have an unexpected break today and thought I might use it to get caught up on some writing. My break will end in approximately 6 minutes, so I have to write fast! 

Making sugar cookies made me think about how thankful I am for my Grandma. I am so thankful for all the grandparents in my life, and I am blessed to have grown up with 2 sets of grandparents as well as a couple of great-grandparents. I know many people lose grandparents at a young age, so I know how fortunate I am to have had so much “grandparent love!” Back to Grandma and sugar cookies…I use her recipe and making sugar cookies has become one of my favorite things to do, especially around the holidays. I appreciate her putting up with every time I call and ask for a reminder on a recipe she has given me or ask for help in figuring out how to make things. I grew up baking with both Mom and Grandma, and I love it. So, I’m thankful for Grandma and her sugar cookies and love of baking (and lots of other things about her, but, I’m down to one minute so I better wrap it up!) 

(Man…all this talk about sugar cookies makes me wish I hadn’t put them all in the freezer last night! One sounds pretty good right now with my afternoon cup of decaf!) 

30 Days of Thanksgiving – Day 6

So I didn’t post yesterday, but it was on purpose…sort of. (As in, I didn’t forget, but I chose not to.) So, here’s day 6…

I’m thankful that God created a day of rest. I’m thankful he wants us to just relax and take the the time to rejuvenate. So, that’s what I did yesterday. I’m thankful for a Sunday afternoon nap and playing in the floor with my little man and getting a little time to be lazy!

30 Days of Thanksgiving – Day 5

I’m thankful that I was blessed with a silly little boy. He’s the goofiest little guy that I know. He makes me laugh much, and I can’t wait to see how much more laughter and joy he’ll bring in the future! 

30 Days of Thanksgiving – Day 4

I’m thankful today for our freedom. Tonight, I’ve been attending, and am still attending, the “Secret Church” simulcast with David Platt. (We’re on a break now…) Part of the “Secret Church” experience is prayer for the persecuted church. We are praying specifically for Egypt where Christians are abducted and physically abused for their faith. I’m thankful I can worship and serve God in public without persecution. I’m thankful that attending “Secret Church” is a choice for me, that I don’t have to keep it a secret, and that I’m not required to attend church in secret.